The young defenceman suffered his own concussion against the Ottawa Senators in January 2006, one that left him reeling for months.

"I definitely know what he's going through," said Colaiacovo, who suffered the injury at Scotiabank Place, the arena where the Maple Leafs meet the Sens tonight.

"Your head effects the rest of your life. You might want to come back, but when you wake up and your head is pounding, you can't really do much."

Kaberle had just passed the puck to Colaiacovo on Friday night when he was crushed by New Jersey's Cam Janssen.

"I didn't see (the hit) because I had the puck," Colaiacovo said. "I did see it on replay. It was scary.

"I just told (Tomas) to take his time with it and get some rest."

THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE

A day after predicting he could be back in the lineup next Tuesday, Kyle Wellwood was not ruling out an earlier return.

"Everyone seems to be coming back earlier than expected, then why not me," said Wellwood, who yesterday participated in his second full practice since undergoing sports hernia surgery six weeks ago.

Saturday's game against Ottawa does not seem out of the question, although the Toronto medical staff will have the final call.

Forward Kris Newbury, meanwhile, completed another workout yesterday and said he no longer is being plagued by headaches stemming from the concussion he suffered against the Pittsburgh Penguins last month.

MILESTONE MAN

Lost in all the Kaberle hysteria was the fact that the Leafs' Paul Maurice celebrated his 300th career NHL coaching victory thanks to Toronto's 3-0 win over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.

Maurice led the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes franchise to 268 victories before adding another 32 as the bench boss of the Leafs this season.